I looked up Katy Perry’s YouTube VEVO channel the other day and was astounded. As of May 5th, she had 15,763,714 souls click ‘subscribe’ to stay in the know of all her latest catchy tunes. And catchy they are. Songs such as Dark Horse and Roar had 934,741,332 and 905,964,706 views respectively. That’s almost a billion views each (give or take tens of millions).

Whoa, Katy, how you do that?

At 35 years old, I’m clearly outside her target audience of teeny boppers and 20-something club goers, but I’ll admit that many of her songs are on Ol’ Bluey (my iPhone). They serve as music therapy for me—lots of different music does, but many of her songs offer profound messages on self-acceptance that I love to belt out when I’m home alone. Though I wasn’t fond of her breakout tune, ‘I Kissed A Girl’ since I felt it trivialized being gay (as if it’s a hobby you can pick up on the weekends, making the decision to be gay is a tough one!), I’ve loved her other songs such as, ‘Firework’, ‘Roar’ and ‘Wide Awake’.

Have you ever really studied the lyrics of Firework? Uh, and I get it if you haven't--that's what I'm here for! They’re pretty brilliant barring the first line about a plastic bag. I didn’t feel the analogy to human potential on that one...

Here they are as provided by Metro Lyrics. I bolded parts that most resonate with me:

Do you ever feel Like a plastic bag Drifting through the wind Wanting to start again Do you ever feel Feel so paper-thin Like a house of cards One blow from caving inDo you ever feel Already buried deep Six feet under Screams but no one seems to hear a thingDo you know that there's Still a chance for you 'Cause there's a spark in you You just gottaIgnite the light And let it shine Just own the night Like the Fourth of July 'Cause baby, you're a fireworkCome on show them what you're worth Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh" As you shoot across the sky Baby, you're a firework Come on let your colors burst Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh" You're gonna leave them all in awe You don't have to feel Like a waste of spaceYou're original Cannot be replaced If you only knew What the future holds After a hurricane Comes a rainbowMaybe the reason why All the doors are closed So you could open one That leads you to the perfect road Like a lightning bolt Your heart will glow And when it's time you know You just gotta Ignite the light And let it shine Just own the night Like the Fourth of July 'Cause baby, you're a firework Come on show them what you're worth Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh" As you shoot across the sky Baby, you're a firework Come on let your colors burst Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh" You're gonna leave them all in awe Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moonIt's always been inside of you, you, you And now it's time to let it through 'Cause baby, you're a firework Come on show them what you're worth Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh" As you shoot across the sky Baby, you're a firework Come on let your colors burst Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh" You're gonna leave them all in awe Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon Songwriters WILHELM, SANDY / ERIKSEN, MIKKEL / HERMANSEN, TOR / DEAN, ESTHER / PERRY, KATY

Imagine how wonderful it’d be if all the insecure souls that mindlessly clicked subscribe after listening to Firework took the lyrics to heart and decided to live by them. What if in that moment they realized that they always mattered? What if they learned not to hold back and finally allowed themselves to offer their unique something to this world?

Katy Perry was right, what an awe-inspiring, colorful world it would be.